Machine for operating on shoes



A. BATES MACHINE FOR OPERATING- ON SHOES July 17, 1928. I 1,677,322

Fild Dec. 25. 1921 La mm Patented July 17, 1928.

Utiil'ithl) STATES pit ARTHUR BATES, OF LJICESTER ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JEBfiEY, A COBPGRATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR OPERATING ON SHOE-S.

Application filed December 23, 1921, Serial No. 524,422, and in Great Britain March 2, 192 1.

This invention relates to machines of the type adapted for shaping or stretching bottomed boots or shoes and is illustrated as embodied in a turnshoe reforming machine of the type set forth in U. S. Letters Patout No. 1,130,801, granted March 9, 1915, on an application filed by Ernest A. Cridland.

In machines of the character referred to the lengthwise stretching of the shoe (by which term hereinafter is implied a boot or shoe) has been effected through the medium of a spring and the amount of stretch imparted'to the shoe has been uncontrolled, the spring exerting its stretching force until the resistance to stretch in the material of the shoe has become equal to the force exerted by the spring. The machine shown in the said Letters Patent has on the whole met with great success; yet' in using it in factories of widely varying types, it has sometimes happened, under particular conditions thatthe result of the described arrangement has been that shoes composed of a readily stretchable material have been stretched considerably more than is desired while shoes composed of a material offering considerable resistance to strctch have not been suiiiciently stretched.

[\(a'wordingly it is an object of'the invention to render it easily possible for the operator to insure any particular class of shoes receiving just that stretching which is re quired. j i

In reforming machines of the character aforementioned, moreover, it is found that in handling certain classes of work the lengthwise stretching has a tendency to reduce the height of the upper. at the sides of the waist, from the sole to its freemargin. Further, after a turn shoe has been turned. the lining which has been on the outside of the shoe during the lasting and sewing operations most frequently and unavoidably takes. up a somewhat wrinkled form. Durins; the process of reforming it is desirable to avoid as far as may be such wrinkles becoming pressed down and more or less per manent. It is a further object of the invention to avoid these disadvantages.

lVith the above discussed objects in View the invention may be regarded from several different points of view as consisting of vari ous features of novel construction and ar ran gement.

One feature consists in a boot on shoe shalt ing or stretching machlne of the type referred to in which the jack or form is yieldingly expanded and there is means to arrest the i yielding expansion of the form at a desired point so that excessive yielding expansion of the last or form is guarded against] Preferably a size scale or other indicating means is associated with the separation-arresting means to indicate preliminary adjustment thereof. d

From a somewhat different point of view the invention may be further regarded as comprising the combination with an'expansible form to stretch a shoe in a lengthwise direction, of a device adjacent to the sides of the form for pulling the shoe in a heightwise direction. In the illustrated construction jaws, or pinc'ers on opposite sides of the form are arranged to grasp the upper at its free margin and pull yieldingly' in a manner to stretch out wrinkles in the lining and minimize the reduction in the height of the upper which the lengthwise stretching tends to bring about. a

The above and other objects and features of the invention will become fully evident to those skilled in the art from the following description of forms of the invention given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side view of the head of a turnshoe reforming machine of the general character described in the specification above refererd to and provided with form expansion limiting and supplementary conforming mechanism; V

. Fig. 2 is an end view showing the rear portion of the same;

Fig. 3is a side view of an alternative forin of form expansion limitng mechanism; anc.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the mechanism for yieldingly separating the form members.

In the construction shown in the drawings the heel end. 2 of the expansible jack or form is mounted on a memberlixed on the jack carrying head 3 which is rotatably' mounted on a flange formed on the column 4 of the machine. in a plane inclined upwardly and rearwardly at an angle of 45, The toe end 5 of the form is mounted on a [member 6 arranged to slide towards or frornthe heel end in guideways 7 provided on the-upper surface of the "rotatable head, This latter mem by a second ball and socket joint her 6 has connected to it at its under-side by a horizontal pin 8 one end of one link 9 of a toggle. The other link 10 of the toggle is pivoted to the rotatable head at 11. The toggle is actuated. through a rod 12 connected at its upper end to the toggle joint by a'ball and socket joint, to allow of the rotation of the head 3*, and. at its lower end (not shown) to one arm of a lever pivoted on a horizontal pin fixed in the column.-

Thesevarious parts may be regarded as being generally equivalent to the corresponding partsshown in the above-identified Letters Patent No.1.180fi01. The push rod 12 may be, and I prefer that it shall be, yieldingly actuated by the mechanisn'i shown inFig. 4 .wherein the rod 12' is formed at its lower end to provide a rack 70 having engagement with a toothed segment 72' pivoted at 74 and provided with a bifurcated projection 71 for connection with a rod 73.

Motion imparted to the rod 73 through a crank pin connected to the rod. Inasmuch as a compression spring? 5 sin-roumls the rod 73yand extends between the projection 71 and a hand nut 7 (i, downward movement of the rod 73 to cause expansion of the form members will be yielding. The actuating mechanism for the rod 73 is controlled by suit able power devices including a cyclic clutch to operate in a manner to expand the expansible form inside of the shoe and stop the machine with this last in. its expanded position, and on a subsequent operation of the. clutch to contract the form and again bring themachine to a stop for removal oi the shoe which has just been stretched.

In the construction herein shown, however, the stretching movement of the toepart 5 of the form or jack is determined by a stop screw 14 threaded through a bracket 15 fixed to the rotatal'ile head. and arranged to" engage the end of the sliding toe part member 6. The screw 14; has on it a hand- .wheel 16 by which it may be rotated and a lock-nut 17 by which it may be locked in adjusted position. The adjustable spring shown in the said Letters Patent for actuating the push rod, illustrated in Fig. 1 hereof at 12 is strong enough to move the toe part member 6 upto the stop screw 14 so that the shoe will be stretched a perdetermined amount and no more, the toe part being held by the stop while the movement is completed with simultaneous compression of the spring.

An indicator is provided by which the amount of stretch which would be imparted to a shoe at any setting of the machine may be determined. This indicator comprises a bar 20 which is graduated towards one end to various shoe sizes and which has mounted on it at this end to be adjustable along it a finger 21 to engage the back of the heel end of the "form. At its other end the bar 20 has fixed on it a plate 22 on which is pivoted a finger or pointer 23 which is urged by a spring 2 l towards the heel end finger and which is arranged to engage the toe end of the toe part 5. pivoted linger or pointer 23 is confined in its swinging movement between two pins 25, 26 fixed. in the plate, 22 one at each side of the finger 28 and the plate has on it graduations for a purpose hereinafter described.

In use the heel end finger 21 is adjusted to the size of shoe to be operated upon and the toe part of the form is moved to its stretching position which position is determined by the stop screw 14. The indicator is now placed on the form with its heel end The finger engaging the back of the heel endof, the form and the pointer 23 the end of the toe part. If atthis time the size of the form when ext-ended coincides with the size of the shoe to be operated upon, the pointer 23 will be in a mid position between the two stop pins, which position will be indicated by the grad-nations on the plate and if a shoe be operated upon under these conditions the shoe will be stretched to its correct size. Should it be desired to stretch the shoe more than its correct size, for in stance. to allow for subsequent contraction of the material, the stop screw l l will. be adjusted to allow the toe-part of the form to move further away from the heel-part under the influence of the spring hereinbetore referred to in the driving mechanism and the amount of such extra stretching will be indicated by the pointer 23 and graduatimis on the plate 22 ot' the indicator. Similarly the stop screw I l may be so adjusted that the shoe will not be stretched to its full size and a certain amount oi stretching is thus left for the finishing last to perforl'i'i when thrust into the shoe. I

According to a modification of a device of the above nature shown in Fig. 3 the forepart member 6 of the form is provided with a rigid pin 60 extending in the direction of expansion and. instead of the stop screw 1 labove described, a hand wheel 61 is mounted on a spindleprojecting from the rotatable head and carries a cam surface 62 adapted to engage the pin 60. By turning the hand wheel the cam surface 62may be set to stop the movement of the torepart member 6' at any desired spot within the desired limits. The hand wheel 61 preferably is notched on its periphery and a flat spring 63 projecting from the head is arranged to any one of the notches and hold the hand wheel in set position. These notches conveniently hear size indications and with this arrangement the use of an independent shoe gage of the type hereinbefore described is rendered less necessary.

Beturning now to the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a pair of pincer-s30 is arranged one at each side of the form. These aid in conforming the upper in various respects, since by gripping the upper at each side of the waist of the shoe and exerting a downward pull on the upper during the lengthwise stretching of the shoe, they act (a) to bed the sole of the shoe down on to the form and thus avoid pinching of the lining or counter between the sole and the form, (Z2) to stretch the shoe upper in itself and (c) to assist in removing wrinkles that may haveformed in the lining during the turning process. This clearing of wrinkles is an important problem since without some pulling or smoothing action on the inner surface of the shoe between it and the form before the form has been fully expanded there is a likelihood of wrinkles being trapped and flattened or ironed more or less permanently into the shoe.

Each pincer mechanism comprises a jaw 31 to engage the lining of the shoe by entering between the shoe and the last, formed on the upper end of a spindle 32 which is perpendicular to the plane of the tread face of the form. The spindle 32 has pivoted on it a second'jaw 33 co-operating with the first jaw to grip .the shoe upper on the outside. Each spindle 32 is slidingly mounted in a socket 655. formed in the arm 34 pivoted on a barrelled portion 35 of a stud 36 fixed in a bracket 37 mounted on the rotatable head 3. The pivotal connection allows movement of the arm 34 and pincer both towards and from the form laterally and by adjusting the stud 36 so that the arm 34 will have clearance between the head of the stud and the bracket 37, movement of the arm 34 and pincer lengthwise of the form will be permitted. A suitably arranged spring 38 connected to the arm 34 and rotatable head 3 normally urges the pincer 30 laterally towards the form and also towards the heel end of the form. A spring 39 interposed between a collar 40 fixed on the spindle and the upper end of the arm 34 normally urges the pincers upwardly towards the tread face of the form, this movement being limited and rotation of the spindle in the arm prevented by a screw 41 threaded into the spindle and passing through a slot in the arm.

Each pivoted pincer jaw 33 has on it a tail piece 42 which is acted upon to close the pincers and to exert a downward pull on the upper by a lever or arm 43 extending lengthwise of the form and pivoted on a horizontal pivot 44 fixed in the bracket 15 through which the stop screw 14 passes.

Each arm 43 has formed on it a cam surface 45 which engages a cam roll 46 extending laterally from the sliding toe-part member (3. Each arm 43 is urged downwardly away from the tread face of the form by a spring of the lug and by rotation of which the tension of the spring may be adjusted. As, during the stretching of the shoe, the toe part 5 moves towards the stop screw 14, the cam rolls 46 travel along the cam surfaces 45 of the arms 43 and allow the springs 47 to swing the arms about their pivots 44 at first closing the jaws on to the upper and then moving the jaws downwardly to stretch the upper.

On the return movement of the toe part of the form after a shoe has been dealt with, the cam rolls 46 lift the arms 43 and also open the pincers through the medium of bridge pieces 51 fixed to the undersides of the arms 43 and passing beneath the tail f pieces 42. y I i The strength of the springs 39 1used to urgethe pincers upwardly may be varied according to the nature of the work upon which the machine is requiredto operate; if strong springs are employed the grip of the pincers upon the upper will be correlow of varying the point at which during the lengthwise stretchingthe pincers are closed and the downward pull occurs. Adjustments may also be provided (a) to varythe distance through which the cammed arms drop and consequently to vary, and it may be out out, downward movement of the pincers or (b) to vary the initialheight of the pincers or both. i

In the above construction the pincers draw the upper in a direction perpendicular to that of the movement of expansion of the form; in some instances it may be found desirable to arrange that the direction. of pincer draw is at an angle thereto having a component of direction towards the toe of the form.

In an alternative construction the pincers may be caused to act independently of the operation of the stretching means, being for example conveniently caused to close and pull upon the upper by the operator through a hand lever or pedal, thus enabling the shoe to be fully seated upon the form before the stretching operation is begun, if so desired; or, again, the pincers may be operated by and the stretching mechanism started by a common pedal or its equivalent which first acts to operate the pincers and then on further manipulation by the operator to start the stretching operation.

VVhilethe invention has been described in connection with a machine of the type illustrated in the said Letters Patent No. 1,130,- 801, it is not the intention to limit its scope thereby or otherwise than by the terms of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent ot' the United States is l. A boot or shoe shaping or stretching machine comprising, in combination, an expansible term, means yieldingly to expand the form lengthwise of a shoe, and a stop for positively limiting the extent of expansion by said means, the stop and expanding means being constructed and arranged for preliminary relative adjustment to vary the extent of expansion allowed by the stop according to the size of shoe.

2. A shoe stretching machine con'iprising, in combination, a support, a head rotatably mounted thereon, an cxpansible 'lorm carried by the head, means yieldingly to expand the form in a manner to avoid injuring a shoe thereon, and means to arrest the expansion at a desired point todeterminc the sizcot a shoe stretched on the form.-

3. A stretching machine comprising, in combination, a support, a head rotatably moaned thereon, a divided form carried by the head, and means to separate the parts of the form a predetermineddistance in any position of the head.

4. A machine of the character described having, in combination, a support, a head rotataliily carried by the support, an expansible form mounted on the head, means for expanding the form, and a stop for positively limiting the extent of expansion by said means.

In a machine of the type having relatively movable form members carried by a rotatably-mounted head and connections in cluding a yieldingly-aetuated member movable axially ot' the head to control the separation and contraction of the 'form members in any position of the head, the combination with said parts of an adjustable stop to engage a movable 'lorin member to limit the extent of the separation.

6. In a machine for stretching a turned shoe over a last or form, in combination, a plurality of pincers to grasp the upper of the shoe at separated points, and mechanism to move said pincers in the direction of the height of the shoe to pull the shoe down on the last or form.

7. In a machine for stretching a turned shoe over a last or form, in combination, a plurality of pincers to grasp the upper of a shoe after it has been turned, and powercontrolled means yieldingly to move the pincers in a direction to pull the shoe over the last or form.

8. In: a machine for stretching a turned shoe over a last or form, in: combintion, a plurality of pincersto grasp the upper of a shoe after turning, and mechanism including a cam for moving said pincers in timed relation to the cycle of the machine and in a direction to pull the shoe over the last or form.

9. In a machine for stretching a shoe over a last or form, in combination, an expansible form for stretching a bottomed shoe lengthwise, a plurality of devices to engage opposite sides of the upper of the shoe, and spring actuated means controlled by the movement of the form to move said. devices to stretch the shoe in a heightvvise direction.

10. In a machine for stretching a shoe over a last or form, in combination, a support for a. forn i in a bottomed shoe, a plurality of pi-ncers to grasp the upper of; a shoe being stretched over a form carried thereby, and cam-controlled spring means to close the pincers and then move them in a direction to stretch the shoe over the form.

11. In a machine for stretching shoes, in combination, an expansible form, means yicldingly to expand the form lengthwise of I a shoe, an adjustable stop tor controlling the expansion of said form, and an indicator operable by the expansion of the form tov 1ndicate the extent of expansion of the form.

12. In a machine of the class described, in combination, an expansible form, means yieldingly to expand. the form lengthwise of a shoe, adjustable means to limit the expansion of said form, and a pointer ar-' ranged to be actuated by expanding movement of the form to indicate the degree of expansion of said form upon a particular adjustment of said limiting means.

13. In a machine for stretching shoes, in combination, an exp'ansible form, means yieldingly to expand the form lengthwise of a shoe, an adjustable abutment for controlling the degree of lengthwise stretch to be imparted to the shoe bythe form, a pointer for indicating'the degree of stretch so imparted, and connections between the abutment and the pointer to control the pointer according to various adjustments of the abutment.

14. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a rotatable head, a divided form, a plurality of supporting means extending between the head and the separate parts of the form, means to expand the form, and a stop to limit the extent of expansion of the form.

15. In a shoe stretching machine, a form expansible lengthwise of a shoe and comprising a relatively stationary member and a 17.111 a machine of the character described, in combination, an expansible last member to operate on the lengthwise dimension of the shoe, and side gripping members to operate on the heightwise dimension of the shoe, the operation of said side gripping members being dependent upon the operation of the expansible last member..

18, In a machine of the character described, in combination, means to stretch a shoe in a lengthwise direction, means tending to stretch the shoe in a heightwise direction, and means controlled by the operation of the lengthwise stretching means for operating the heightwise stretching means.

19. In a machine of the character 'described, in combination, an expansible form operable to impart a lengthwise stretch to a shoe, a resiliently mounted side gripping member operable to minimize the reduction in the height of the upper occasioned by the lengthwise stretch.

20. In a machine of the character described, in combination, an expansible form, a stop for limiting the extent of expansion of said iorm, gripping members located on either side ofsaid expansible form, and cam operated means for controlling said gripping members.

21. In amach'ine of the character described, in combination, an expansible form to impart stretch to a shoe in a lengthwise direction, a device adjacent to the sides of the form for imparting a pull to the leather of the shoe in a heightwise direction.

22. A device of the character described comprising, in combination, means to stretch ashoe along the lengthwise dimension, means constructed and arranged to engage both the inside and the outside of the upper and to pullthe upper heightwise of the shoe,

and a pointer for indicating the degree of stretch imparted along the lengthwise dimension.

28. A machine of the character described having, in combination, a form expansible lengthwise of a shoe thereon 'andyieldinglyoperable to impart a lengthwise stretch to the shoe, and resiliently operable devices n' ovable relatively to the form to grasp the shoeupper and to stretch it heightwise of the shoe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ARTHUR BATES. I 

